


Crossing Borders

by captainpanmerica



Category: Rizzoli & Isles
Genre: Bucket List, F/F, Feelings Realization, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, Museums, Sharing a Bed, The Netherlands, There Is Only One Bed, Vacation, Zoo, jane is nervous, maura is insecure
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-03
Updated: 2020-11-23
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:08:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 2,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26797873
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/captainpanmerica/pseuds/captainpanmerica
Summary: Maura and Jane decide to go to the Netherlands to visit the Museum of Antiquities for Maura's bucket list. Fun and feelings ensue.
Relationships: Maura Isles & Jane Rizzoli, Maura Isles/Jane Rizzoli
Comments: 20
Kudos: 26





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> English isn't our first language, but this has been beta'ed by the amazing Vente! Please be nice and have fun with reading!

Jane rapped on her desk.  
“C’mon Korsak, finish your paperwork, I wanna go home!”  
Korsak looked up. “You’re going on holiday with Maura this weekend, right?”  
Jane nodded and said impatiently, “Yes, and I still have to pack my bag, so hurry up please!”  
Korsak grinned and started writing as slow as possible. Jane groaned.  
Maura flicked the alcohol off her scalpel and started drying it. Susie was cleaning some tubes and putting new labels on them.  
“Susie, will you be able to manage everything next week? I know you’re very capable, but this is also the first time I will be unreachable for a week.” As an afterthought, she added: “Maybe I should take my work phone with me…”  
Susie smiled and quickly assured, “No, no! I will be fine Doctor Isles, just have fun!” Maura threw her a look. “I am sort of worried though, what if she notices something? She is a detective after all.” Susie sighed “Doctor Isles, Jane trusts you. You’ve known her for so long, you’re best friends, it’ll be all right.”  
They heard a knock on the open door. Jane peeked around the side. “Time to go. You ready?”  
Maura threw a quick glance at the tools she had been cleaning. “Yes, just wrapping up.” She looked at Susie, a bit nervous. Susie just smiled and shooed her out of the room.  
“Have a good time you two! Bring me a souvenir.”  
“We will!” Jane called, while pulling Maura into the hallway.

\---

“I’m so excited for you girls, it feels like you haven’t had a vacation in ages!” Angela said while driving them to Logan International Airport. “Are you flying directly to Amsterdam?”  
“No, we decided to transfer in Paris because that was cheaper. So we’re flying with Delta Air to Charles de Gaulle and then from there to Schiphol Airport with Air France.” Maura pronounced France with a French accent and Jane rolled her eyes.  
“That sounds lovely! I’ve never been to Europe, will you be safe there?”  
“Ma, we can take care of ourselves. Maura once stabbed a guy with a scalpel and I’m a cop, remember?”  
“Oh, but I hope you don’t have a scalpel with you now, Maura, because you’ll never get through security with that!”  
“Really, ma?”  
“Don’t worry Angela, I double checked everything and there’s nothing in my suitcase that’s illegal in the U.S.A., France, the Netherlands or international airways.”  
“Then it’s all good. Here we are, girls!”

\--- 

Jane was looking out of the plane window at the thousands of lights in the city’s. Maura was reading a tourist guide. The transatlantic flight and transfer to their current plane had gone without any problems and in less than an hour they would be in the Netherlands. Well, at the airport at least. “Jane, did you know that tulips don’t originate from the Netherlands?”  
“What? No.”  
“They’re from the Middle East. Tulips were the symbol of the Ottoman court, but they have only been cultivated in Western Europe since the sixteenth century, after diplomats brought them back from a visit to Turkey.”  
“Huh. What about sports? They do play baseball here, right?”  
“They do, but it’s not even nearly as big as in the States. I believe the national sport here is soccer.”  
“Soccer?” Jane frowned, “Who plays soccer?” 

\---

The plane hit the ground with a thunk. Everywhere passengers looked up with weary eyes. “Ooh, I’m so excited!” Maura exclaimed.  
“We’re not there yet,” Jane reminded her with a smile. It turned out she was right, because the airplane still had to be driven to the gate, which took forever. Apparently it wasn’t a custom in the Netherlands to get out of the plane on the landing ground. Even when they arrived at the gate, they had to wait some more time in the plane. Once in the airport it took a while before their luggage arrived.  
But then, after all the necessities, they finally stepped out of the airport and into the Dutch air.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> again a massive thank you to Vente for being our beta! enjoy the chapter :D
> 
> edit: added some breaks in the text to make it easier on the eyes.

“Oh no, Jane, it’s a stick shift car.”  
Jane had rented a car while Maura bought them sandwiches to eat. When Maura returned, Jane was standing proudly next to a Renault Captur from 2013.  
“Yeah, I know. This is Europe, everyone drives stick here.”  
“I can’t drive stick shift!”  
“I can. I’ll drive.”  
Maura was impressed. They got into the car and Jane started driving while Maura fed her a sandwich.  
They were going to Leiden, a small town. That’s where the Museum of Antiquities was located, the museum that Maura wanted to visit for her bucket list. Jane was incredibly focused on the road, because the Netherlands is a miniscule country, so even though they had barely left Amsterdam, they were already almost in Leiden, and she didn’t want to miss the exit.  
Maura kept looking at Jane, at first stealthy glances, but when Jane didn’t notice her, the glances became longer and longer until she caught herself staring. She wondered where Jane had learned how to use a stick shift. It looked so professional; the way she absentmindedly moved the clutch to change gears, her black hair tied together in a ponytail that was still messy from the flight, how she was intensely focused on the road despite being incredibly tired… She looked beautiful in the yellow light of the lampposts.  
  
Suddenly, Jane stopped the car. Maura blinked her eyes in surprise. She hadn’t even noticed that they had left the highway, but since Jane had parked the car in front of what must be their hotel, it probably had happened.  
The hall of the hotel wasn’t big, but it was sharply furnished. A man was sitting behind the desk reading a magazine. He looked up disturbed when Jane and Maura walked up to him.  
“Goedenavond,” Maura said. Jane frowned at her, confused.  
“Goedenavond. Waarmee kan ik u helpen?” the man replied.  
“Uuuh..” Jane looked at Maura, who looked back helplessly. “Do you speak English?” she continued.  
“Yes, I do. Good Evening.”  
“Evening. We made a reservation here. Under the name Isles. I think,” Jane added, and Maura nodded to confirm.  
“Eens kijken,” the man mumbled in Dutch. “Yes, I got it here. One room, right?”  
“No, that’s supposed to be two rooms,” Maura said.  
“It says just one room here.”  
“I am sure I made a reservation for two rooms.” Maura found herself starting to panic.  
“Okay, well, can we change the reservation right now and get an extra room?” Jane suggested.  
“I’m sorry, but we’re fully booked for the coming week. The room does have a king-sized bed, so there should be enough space.”  
  
Maura pulled Jane aside.  
“Jane, what are we going to do? We can’t just share that room.”  
“We’ve slept in the same bed before, haven’t we? I’m okay with it.”  
Maura didn’t know what to do. Yes, of course they had shared a bed before in the past, but it was different now, wasn’t it? She wasn’t sure if she could keep up pretences if they would be sharing a bed.  
“Maura, is it going to be a problem?” Jane was concerned now, and a bit puzzled. Maura looked like she was about to freak out, but Jane couldn’t imagine why.  
“No. No, we can share a bed. It’s better than looking for another hotel at ten p.m.”  
“Okay, good.”  
They got back to the man at the desk and checked in. He gave them the keys and they carried their luggage upstairs to room 24. Though she was tired and really just wanted to take a shower and then sleep, Jane turned to Maura and said, “We’re going into town. Because we are so buying you pyjamas.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the wait pals. This chapter hasn't been beta'ed, so be kind about any possible mistakes :). Enjoy!

The next morning Maura woke up. Even before she opened her eyes, she remembered she wasn’t at home, but lying next to Jane in an hotel in Europe. The first thing she noticed while blinking sleepily, was the cold, empty spot in the bed next to her. She sat up, panicking, thinking Jane might’ve left her while she was still sleeping. Her fast-beating heart calmed down when she heard the shower running, deducing that Jane must be taking a shower.  
She tried to decide whether she should get dressed now, or wait until Jane got out of the shower so she could prepare for the day in there, when the decision was made for her. The water stopped running, and a few minutes later Jane came out, wearing nothing but a towel. Maura’s gaze dropped to Jane’s arm, which she was using to hold up the towel. Her wet curls caused a drop of water to run down her neck and biceps. Maura could feel her face growing warm. Jane smiled at her.  
“Oh good, you’re awake. Shower’s free if you want to.”  
The combination of Jane standing there wearing nothing but a towel, smiling prettily and talking with her hoarse voice was more than Maura could handle.  
She hastily grabbed some clothes and toiletries and hurried towards the bathroom, almost tripping over Jane’s bag on the way.  
\---  
They drove to the Museum of Antiquities in their rented Renault. Maura could barely contain her excitement about the trip, rambling about the exhibitions she had read about on the internet.  
“I’m serious, Jane! They have a lot of amazing stuff, and while you’re not as interested in history as I am I know you’re going to enjoy at least one exhibition. They have actual mummies in multiple sizes and colors on display, Jane! And what about the glass exhibition, with glass from Ancient Greece and Egypt, which I can’t believe was preserved this well until now, and there are a few displays about archeology as well. Are you seriously not interested in anything I just mentioned? I can’t believe that.”  
“Mummies? You’re serious?”  
“Of course I am, Jane! They even have a mummy case of a priest. I told you they had exciting stuff, why did you doubt me?”  
“The things you think are exciting are not my thing most of the time, Maura. I don’t usually go to science conventions for fun. You do.”  
They paid their entry tickets and went straight to the Egyptian exhibition. After all, that was the part Jane could tolerate the most. Maura squeaked with excitement. Jane tried to be patient while she read all the little information signs.  
After the introductory room it was time for the real stuff.  
The two of them spend a while looking at a bronze statue of Osiris, his arms crossed and holding two sticks that were, according to Maura, a crook and flail.  
“So he’s depicted as a mummy, which is really interesting. That actually happened a lot and it makes sense, since he’s the king of Duat. Duat is the world of the dead. Oh, look at that! He’s also wearing his Atef crown, which…”  
Maura kept on talking and Jane rolled her eyes, smiling. She couldn’t believe her best friend was such a nerd. She loved her for it, but if she could go back in time to before she’d met Maura and tell herself her best friend would be like this, she would’ve laughed out loud and advised herself to take a drug test.  
Jane knew she wasn’t book smart like Maura. She was street smart, which was way more useful as a detective, but she usually hated hanging out with super intelligent people. Maura being the exception. 

They stood before a row of sarcophaguses.  
“They used to exhibit the open mummy of a little boy, so without a sarcophagus, but they took it out of the collection because they thought it was disrespectful. I think it’s nice he gets to rest now without random people gazing at him, day in, day out.”  
“Wouldn’t you have been one of those gazers too?”  
Maura nodded . “Probably, yes.” 

After Maura bought two academic books in the museum shop, one about interactions between the Roman Empire and the Egyptian civilization and one about Neolithic grave goods in the Netherlands, and Jane an Indiana Jones hat, they left the building. They had spent all day in the museum and it was time for dinner now.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And another chapter to make up for the wait! This one hasn't been beta'ed either, so be kind about mistakes please. Enjoy :) hehehe.
> 
> (Also, apologies to Dutch people for calling your traditional dish vomit. It's true though, look up some pictures.)

Maura and Jane went to a cute little restaurant close by. The menu was in Dutch, but there were English translations in a different font under the dishes. When the waiter came, Jane ordered steak.  
“I’ll have hutspot, please,” Maura said.  
“You’re ordering pot?” Jane asked, shocked.  
“Maura, you can’t order pot in a restaurant,” she hissed. “And I don’t think you can handle being stoned.”  
The waiter smiled. “Hutspot isn’t weed. It’s a traditional dish in this town. I’d very much recommend it.”   
“It’s like mashed potatoes, right?”  
The waiter nodded. “Yes, but with carrots, onions and sometimes minced beef as well. All mashed,” they explained.  
Jane made a face. “I’ll stick with my steak,”  
The waiter laughed. “Of course. You’re Americans, I think?”  
“Yeah, we’re on vacation for the week.”  
“Are you enjoying your stay?”  
Maura immediately starting telling all about their trip, while Jane kept quiet. Years of having a dangerous job had made her a bit paranoid and she was careful spilling every detail about her life with a random stranger.  
But the waiter left soon after that, and Maura turned to Jane.  
“Hutspot was invented on 3 October 1574, during the war with the Spanish. Leiden was under siege for a year and a lot of people had died from starvation. When the troops of William of Orange finally freed them, they ate herring, hutspot and white bread. They celebrate this every year on the third of October here. It’s quite a big thing,”  
Jane stared at Maura for a while.  
“Are you for real?”   
\---   
Dinner was good. Jane even tried some hutspot after Maura dared her. It wasn’t bad, it just looked like vomit.  
After dinner, they bought ice cream and ate it while walking along the canals.  
When they got back to the hotel, they were both tired and went to bed.   
\---  
Maura fell asleep immediately, but Jane tossed and turned on her side of the bed. Last night she’d been too tired to notice, but this night she felt… weird.  
They were way too close. Why was this so awkward? They had sat together on the couch so many times before, usually a lot closer to each other than they were now. They had even shared a bed together before, but it had never been weird. So why would it be uncomfortable now?   
Jane rolled on her side. She looked at Maura. Her thick blond hair, her brand new pajamas, her face that looked somehow even friendlier in her sleep, her beautiful-  
Oh.  
 _Oh._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OHOHOHO


End file.
